Agent 86 wrote:Not a chance, left Land Grab because of Bots fucking up a good game. I can't believe CC would put this in place against so many other good ideas. Fail as there are so many maps with varieties of play, no bot can be programmed to be competitive on such a diverse playing field. Will not have any bot in my games ruining real games.

86

Don't worry, the bots can't join games of their own accord, and they can't be invited to games. They are strictly a 1v1 thing that you play if and only if you choose to.

CC put in the bots for a very good reason. Our Number 1 problem has always been new user retention. People hear about the site, they come and check it out, sign up for a few games, and nothing happens. The game they joined doesn't start until maybe days later, and meanwhile they've moved an and are playing some other game on some other site. Even if the game does start, their turn doesn't come up right away, and if it does, it's probably because they are playing some farmer who has been waiting to ambush them.

We've tried various strategies to improve new player retention, but without much success. The most recent major push was to have some free speed games for new members. That did more harm then good. It increased the creation of multies, it increased farming, and it didn't do much to improve the retention rate.

This is a new attempt to achieve that goal. New players can come, get some instant gratification by having a few games that begin right away. The bots aren't very good as players, but they are just good enough to give a new player a bit of a challenge, as well as an introduction to how the game plays out and the basic mechanics. With a bit of luck, the new player will develop a taste for the game and be much more likely to stick around.

A lot of veterans have tried some games against the bots now, mainly out of curiosity. There is even a nice official tournament involving those games. However, you and I are not the target audience, and the bots are not intended to be serious competition for a veteran. They are a new player hook, we hope, and that is all they are meant to be.

Anyway, if you haven't tried a game against the bots, give it a shot, and if you want to make a competitive thing out of it, sign up for one of greenoaks' Official Bot Invasion Tournaments!

Second, for those of you who are not into tournaments and feel left out, there are a couple of really cool non-tournament events.:

One is a Photojournalism Contest which gives you the chance to win a prize just by sharing cool online pics of Africa. Many of you already do stuff like this on Facebook or other sites, why not do it here, too?

The SOS Africa Event is hosting an African Safari in Live Chat this week and we've imported a ton of African animals to the CC forums for you to find!

We will give five clues per animal as to what animal you are looking for and where. Then you must race against the other competitors to be the first person to spy all the animals. Each Safari session will have five African animals for you to search for, plus a sixth elusively hard-to-spot animal that only those with the sharpest eyes might spot. I've heard if you see that animal first, you might receive a small amount of something that ends with ...ium.

Details:

Date: Friday, October 4thTimes: 3 African Safaris will be held that day at the following times [CC Time]:

09:30

14:30

23:00

Location: Live Chat, enter /join SOS Africa in the message box to join the room where the event will be held.Format: The first member who finds the all five African animals hidden within the CC forums wins. The winner of each session will not be allowed to compete in the following session/s. However, if you compete and are unsuccessful, you may compete in other sessions.Prizes: A shiny gold GA medal and a place in the SOS Africa Finals Tournament, which will be played on the Africa II map !

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, remember that this is a fundraising event. Here's the uber-cool macbone reminding us:Subject: SOS Africa

macbone wrote:It looks like with no graphic on the front page this time, the donations have been sloooow.

(Note: And if you reside in the UK, check out this post by a fellow UK Conquer Clubber which explains how you can have the UK Government attach some extra funds to your donation, at no extra cost to you!)

When donating, to claim your free entry into our Mega-Tournament, please INCLUDE YOUR CONQUERCLUB USERNAME in the "Your Name" field as shown below:

and be sure to keep the option to hide your donation "unchecked."

Remember, you don't need to use your real name (unless you live in the U.K. and want the tax receipt.) Your CC username is all we want for this purpose.

So far, donations have been much lower than last year. Please help us beef them up!

I don't know when I missed the announcement, but the Map Directory that many of us have asked for is now a reality. Check out this cool new feature!

On September 20th, we had a callout for Facebook volunteers, and Tazzy_J has now joined the Media Team to work on our Facebook presence. Congratulations Tazzy, and a thank you as well to all other applicants!

Now, what many of you will probably love:The Beta Team has issued a callout for Beta Testers. The Beta Team has been in existence for a while now, but only Team CC members were on it. Now, they are asking for you to join them:Subject: [Callout] Beta Testers Needed!!!

IcePack wrote:

Callout: Beta Tester Volunteers!!!

As you may have noticed, bigWham, blakebowling and the Conquer Club Development Team have been busy lately!They've brought us some fantastic updates the last few weeks; like 12 player games, new bots, clan tabs, invitation upgrades, no fort games....need I say more? Needless to say, all these updates have been getting developed at record pace and our Beta Testers Group could use some help! Over the next few weeks, we'll be collecting applications for the Beta Testers Group!

Active in forums Positive Disciplinary History A Keen Observation Eye Previous Beta / Test Experience a Plus (but not required) Ability to Accurately describe bugs / issues in forum Working Knowledge of Conquer Club and its Features

If you're interested in helping your favorite world domination site, have a little extra time, and would like to come aboard the team to make an awesome change, then send me a PM to me (IcePack) explaining why you feel you should be considered and we'll get the ball rolling. Thank you for your time!

Note: This is a callout for beta tester volunteers (players), not a TeamCC position

Here's what we have on tap for you:

The first regular section is Mess Hall and Interrogation Room, which includes the wonderful interrogation of Qwert. But that's not all! This freestyle section also includes a brand new contest run by IAmCaffeine! Prizes? Yes, of course there's prizes! A 3-month or CCup Entry prize to be given away every single issue for 10 issues, followed by a grand prize of a year's Prem. All that, and of course some medals, too. But first, you have to answer the questions so scoot on over to the Freestyle Section forthwith!

The Platoon Report covers all aspects of the Clan scene. It's just bigger and better than ever. IcePack's chart are a delight to look at. Amazing how much data those crazy dudes of the clan world can generate. It's like baseball statistics, but better, because while none of us will ever be Alex Rodriguez or Brett Saberhagen, some of us will be in a Top-10 Clan!

War Games with five big articles also comes close to breaking new records for activity. In the last issue, the section passed the milestone of the 50th tournament interview, and anamainiacks prepared a fine trivia contest to celebrate the occassion. This issue, the winners of that contest are revealed! I won't say anything: you'll have to look for yourself!

While you're down there, check out the latest TPA news, as well as a new interview (the 51st, if you're counting) with danryan.

Cartographic Surveillance covers the Foundry with the usual level of thoroughness. Among other things, there's a spotlight on a cool new map called Ziggurat.

Our Next Mission Brief includes such things as the closing credits and information on how to subscribe.

Here at the Dispatch we've decided to start a small, regular trivia for our beautiful readers! For the next ten issues there will be a series of questions all about Conquer Club and the Dispatch. A prize will be issued every issue for the winner; either three months of shiny premium or free entry into the grand Conquer Cup. You can only win once, but it's still worth submitting answers every week, because whoever has the most correct answers after ten issues will win a year of premium! In the case of a tie for first place, a series of five quick-fire questions will be hosted in Live Chat.

Furthermore, the top five players after the tenth issue will all receive General Achievement medals. Ties for second through to fifth place will be PM'd a set of 10 trivia questions. If there are more ties, everyone gets free coffee (aka we'll think of another solution). Finally, one player who enters the trivia every issue, will be awarded a six month premium.

Please note, all answers must be PM'd to iAmCaffeine before the next Dispatch is released. Answers sent elsewhere will be disregarded.

1. Who was the foundry reporter when the first issue of the Dispatch was published?2. Who created the USA Map Pack?3. When was the first issue of the Dispatch published? Who published it? (Both answers required)4. According to The Bison King, which three maps in-production (at the time) were most pleasing to look at?5. Who wrote the XML for the Brazil revamp?6. On the 25th March 2009 who had created the most tournament games? How many had they created?7. Who organised the tournament 'Vampires vs Werewolves: Europe'?8. Who won the foundry stamp competition in May 2009?9. Which month, in 2009, was the foundry re-organised?10. When was the Random map introduced? (Exact time required)

I'm an SoC graduate, and I still play a very SoC style. I did not try to take a card round 1, but I will this time.

I am also the only graduate. Elric is an instructor. The other four players are all current SoC students. As the only graduate, I feel under pressure to show up these noob acolytes! I know the odds are against me though. Besides the fact that it's a six-player game and one's expected win rate is only 18%, there is the fact that all these students are able to get advice from their teachers. Oh yes, this will be a good game to win, but I'm not very confident.

Gendotte is in the coveted position of having started on Chicago and having had 2 other adjacent cities to fort from. He has a massive 10-stack. The other highly-coveted starting points are Berlin (held by Major Bob) and Nairobi and Hong Kong (both held by koffiedwerq). My best starting point is Moscow. It's ranked as a very good spot by some, but I've never had much luck with it. Definitely I will be on the lookout for a chance to move to Berlin if the cards and dice are favourable.

The only card spots available to me are London and Montreal, both available from Reykjavik. I also have to build on Moscow, so I will drop 1 on Moscow, 2 on Reykjavik, and soft-attack London for a card. I will try London rather than Montreal, because I don't want to swap cards with gendotte. His starting point is way too powerful and I'd like to see him having difficulty getting a card. Almost surely he will get a card anyway, but if by some miracle he doesn't, it will be helpful.

I succeeded in getting a card. It would have been nice if I got it on my first shot, but I got it on my second. The basic SoC doctrine of "soft attack" is a useful one. In the early stages of the game, never end your turn with fewer troops on a city than you had at the beginning of your turn. Two attacks versus a 1, and if you fail on the second then stop.

Want to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information, Mafia and You, and Rules and Terms of Mafia.Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.

What is "Mafia"?Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.

Mafia NewsA Darker Shade of Black Mafia ended with a town win. A pivotal moment was the early deadline lynch of the mafia godfather as well as the quick subsequent lynch of the SKer. Town prevailed with a comfortable margin. Fine game run by rishaed.

Mafia CalloutsCalling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling:

Sign-ups:No games are currently in signups, but one will hopefully open up soon!

Seeking Replacements:Consult the Replacement Thread to see what games are in need of reserves/replacements.

Advanced Roles and Strategy by safariguy5Deadline conditions are discussed here

Deadline Lynches

What is It?When activity drops during a game day, the mod can institute a deadline. At the deadline, a variety of options are open to the moderator as to what would occur should nobody reach the needed number of votes for a lynch. The most common conditions are either no lynch or the person with the highest number of votes is lynched.

ExampleThere are 7 players left in the game, and at deadline, Jack has only 2 votes. The mod announces a no lynch and proceeds to night.

How to Use this StrategyThe moderator only needs to be consistent in application of the deadline rules. If they choose one outcome at the end of the first deadline, that should remain the same outcome for any and all subsequent deadlines. Some other mods have decided on other deadline conditions. / uses a deadline condition where the person with the highest number of votes has a 50-50 chance of being lynched. Other mods have experimented with secret balloting with only people receiving votes being eligible to be lynched. Another choice is to randomly lynch a player. Ultimately, it comes down to mod preference and what would be appropriate for the game's theme.

Q. Why did you change your name from qwert into Qwert?A.well after 6 years in CC i want some change.

Q. Define beautyA.beauty of what?

Q. Do you think cc is beautiful? Explain how please.A.Well i will say only this:bringing up something new to pick public attention, as long as what you bring is not something too bad, then easy to pick people around the table, having them give it a try.on the other hand, what the hard part is, to keep them stay, or keep the number of leaving be almost equal or less than new comers.from this perspective, from 2006 to now, 7 years, still a lot of people to make cc community, this site is quite quite successful. And of course beautiful to.

Q. Is there any relation in between qwert, invert, and revert?A.Well me and invert are player in CC, and are you thinking on "revert el Grande" ? He its also CC member.

Q. Do you hate dice?A. Of course, any normal person here hate dices. If you one day start to not hate dices, then its time for retirement.

Q. Why not qwerty?A.Why not sdrsdr0212?

Q. You are one of the most vocal in the thread Is CC declining, if you had the ability, what if anything would you do to stop this perceived decline?A.I will do same like El_Jefe and before hem LAckattack--sell before biger decline . And im not most vocal, i only alarming Owners to do something, and to be aware that Declining are happening. Lackattack dont do nothing, to implement things fast,and to save 23000 active members. I must say that bigwham are very active in fast implementations, and this could finally end of declining topic successful.

Q. How does it feel to now be using a capital Q rather than the lower case? Does it increase the size of your e-peen? Should we now all refer to you as sir, or madame, or another title you may prefer?A.I just take one caffetine, and pretend to not read this question.

Q. If you take the games played on Pelo' War, add that to games played on Imperium Romanum, divide by games played on WWII Europe and multiply by games played on WWII Iwo Jima, what result do you get? Also, how many jaffa cakes can you buy with this figure?A.Ok, i put mine calculator on and result are.................DAMN not so great score i can buy only 500 gram!!!

Q. What is your favourite form of caffeine?A.I dont drink caffeine

Q. Would you propose an alternative to the UN, or should it be done away with completely?A.I dont even think about that...hmm this its for long thinking

Q. When are you going to stop sulking and make some more maps?A.Sulking? lets see what Google translate say about this word..............Hey man im not a girl!

Q. How often do you use a translate program, such as google translate?A.not to much often recently, because many people start to learn mine qwenglish language, and this its going pretty good.

Q. What is your favorite map that you made?A.Well i think its Peloponesian war, because from start of map creation, i increase mine skils in map making, and this look like best graphicaly map i create. ACW Battle Of Antietam are even better graphically then pelo war. Battle Of Kursk also have a lot graphically details and its very complex, and maybe one day (when things go in right way in Map foundry) could be finished and be for play.

Q. Have you cross mapped all the maps you created?A.Check Map rank, and they say.........................yes im cross mapped all

Q. What map did you create that you wish you didn't?A. Nope, all maps are great.

Q. Do you think the second revolution will succeed?A.Well start of second Revolution are surprise for me, and its very good. So far many goals are achieved, and mister Red make more and more fast improvements, so maybe this could be victory for CC.

Q. Did they do this on purpose?A.Maybe, and maybe not

Q. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your feelings towards running Clan League 5?A.Before mine resignation its was strong 8,, but after mine resignation drop on 7. There its not question why im resign,so i will not answer why i give this score.

Q. What has been your favorite part of running Clan League 5? Least favorite?A.Favorite part,, well entire organization what i run its was quite good, favorite part its clans who very good, almost all on time create games for each round ( with a help from me with numerous notifications and instructions.Least Favorite> in end that was CD and one DD. I think that this answer everybody know.

Q. How much time goes into running the CL5? Do you enjoy it enough to run CL6?A.Its goes quite much time, consider that this include-table and schedule updates, instructions for each round, Cl5 Newsletter,MVP check, Jump in case when DD are not notice something, check round labels, check transfers, check Player numbers. I was enjoy, only what missing its that this Tournament ,like some people notice, become more like Qwert Clan League, instead to be Official Clan League, because CD (except for first phase) are virtually not exist in second phase, and only come to not help, and stay on one clan side, even when this clan make error.A1.Run Cl6,, well i dont have intention to run CL6, and now this ,consider that im now infamous in eye off CD, because i defend mine decisions, so even hypothetical mine chance for that its zero. Nobody want to have Organizer who want to build all rules on time, who want to implement more things what missing in starting information, who constantly ask for help so that know how to react on some situations, who are annoying and demand that DD who don't work anything in league be replace immediately, and want to all things be correct and fair. Nobody want that person.

Q. How did you come up with your username? Did you fall head first on the keyboard?A.I want something what its easy to remember.

Q. Is making a new map in your plans?A. I all ready have almost finished map-ACW Battle of Antietam and WWII Battle of Kursk,, also in working are Ancient Conquest Rising Empires to.

Q. If you were to start a new map today, what would it be about?A. Look above answer.

Q. How low do you think the number of users on the scoreboard will sink to next year? And what can I (Gillipig) do to further the decline?A.I tell you only this...prepare jaffa cookie for me when number go below 11800

Q. How have you managed to stay dedicated to this site for so long?A.Well its start with maps, so when i finish this i put mine attention on Tournaments(18 finished), then jump to suggestions, and finally discover Clans,also Write Newsletter articles, and become CC Teacher, so i cover all in CC, so nothing left.Its look that i dont have anymore challenges here.

Q. On a scale of 1 to Alexander the Great how much more powerful do you feel with a capital Q?A.I get same shit dices , so i dont get any power, maybe i will go switch again on small q.

Q. On a scale of BoganGod to 10 how much more responsible do you feel with a capital Q?A.This its same, no changes, when i take some job i do its very serious(except if someone block mine work, then unfortunately i need to resign)

Q. On a scale of lackattack to bigWham, with a median factor of El_Jefe, what is nagerous' middle name?A. I dont understand this question.

Q. What was the best victory you ever had on CC?A. I had so many great victories, that its hard to take one, but i give you fresh game: Game 13138675Our team start good, manage to eliminate one opponent, and then suddenly we can not do anything, any attack we get crap dices, and our opponent get great dices, so only what left for our team its to build impossible strategy to try to win. For this we are forced to start teammate kills, and this was success, we turn this to our win. Great victory in end.

Q. What was the most terrible defeat you ever had on CC?A. Difficulty question, but every game where you lost in first round,or winner are decided in first round are terrible.

Q. What is your favourite map (not counting your own)?A.Brazil , i had very positive score in team clan games on this map .

Q. What was your favourite tournament to organise?A.Qwert Bracket Tournament Series (11 tournaments), but i must say that Yugoslav Premier League, and UEFA Champions League also become very popular.

Q. What was your favourite tournament to play in?A.European Wars,(i was a winner), very strong and very competitive Tournament, where i play 59 games .

Q. What was your favourite clan war?A.Last Year, Big Finale of Clan League 4-Division 2 against OSA, we manage to win Championship, and bring Greatest Success to Mythology. (applause)

Q. What was the wildest forum argument you ever had?A.To much of this hard to take one

Q. What is your favourite game option?A.Escalating,chain fog

Q. Why did they make the shortcut for the word "at" take two keystrokes?A.Global warming

Q. How long is a piece of string?A.125

Q. What if there were no hypothetical situations?A.Well then i will kick you in ass for real, for make this stupid question

Q. Will your answer to this question be no?A.Yes,, actually answer are no. On what question?

Hey all you Conquer Club clan enthusiasts! Thanks for checking out another edition of the Platoon Report, where we keep you up to date on the big news in the clan world. And talk about big news, as of September 19th, Clans finally have their very own tab and page on the site! The new page displays a logo, message, the leaders, player count and score information, war record, and even a games won/lost percentage for every clan. This is a really great step towards recognizing the passion and devotion of clan players on the site, and represents the materialization of a long held dream for many. What future enhancements might be beneficial to the clan page? I take a look at some of the suggestions already posted in our first article this issue - which do you like best? What ideas are still missing? Let us know what you think... who knows, with the rate of updates lately, our feedback could lead to updates in the not too distant future!

As usual, we've got some great updates on two of the biggest events in the clan world. Keefie has an update for us on all the action in CL5, while IcePack brings us the latest on Conquer Cup 4. This issue of Platoon Report also brings you exclusive updates on the F400 and F41 rankings that IcePack has been maintaining, as well as a really cool, brand new summary called the Combined Conquer Club Standings (CCCS) that brings together all the current ranking systems in to one easy chart.

Enjoy, and good luck out there on whichever battlefield(s) you may find yourselves!

What else does the Clan Page need? How about links to more information?

TheMissionary wrote: All we need now is links to each clan's recruitment forum included, or to their history thread (if applicable).

An option to link to the clan forum?

koontz1973 wrote:I would go a lot further than this. When you hover over the clan tab, you should get a drop down box linking to the clan forums. So either click on what you get now or go directly to the forums. This would work with tournaments as well.

Should the page take results of smaller skirmishes into account somehow?

josko.ri wrote:Link to this suggestion threadConcise description:Currently, Clan Homepage has included only clan wars which are composed of clan war between 2 clans, I believe only the ones which are eligible for medal, which means composed of 40+ games. I would like to suggest add Clan Leagues into statistics as well.

How about some quick, fun facts?

Qwert wrote:Link to this suggestion threadI think that need to be add two more informations1. After clan name add date of creation2. Below clan game record add best achievement( like winning Clan League-Clan Cup-Random League-Newcomers Cup- or Clan League Division winners ets-etc)

Things have moved on quite a lot from the last update. It's now looking like the Premier League is a straight two horse race between the leaders KORT and the 4th ranked clan Immortal Assasins. IA have put a run of big wins together to pull level on points with KORT, the game difference margin has also shortened. A game in hand still makes KORT favourites for the title but it could all come down to the last round of games when these two behemoths of the clan world meet for the second time. A close and exciting finish is on the cards.

Second League

One Step Ahead are still leading the Second League and impressively have only lost one match so far. They can't afford to slip though as four quality clans are breathing down their necks. LHDD, Risk Attackers, TFFS and Imperial Dragoons are all fighting hard to close the gap on the leaders. LHDD, having finished more games, are probably the least likely to top the group and OSA still have that game in hand which could prove crucial. At the other end of the table the Grim Reapers are toiling against all opposition and have just been overhauled by the Magnificent Bastards. Army of Kings just can't seem to get a result and are still looking for their first win, the Second League has certainly been a tough proving ground for the lowest ranked clan in the competition.

Third League

Well what a tight league this one is. We have A Question of Honour, The Headless Horsemen and Dynasty all level on 21 points and separated by only very slim game difference. Also, Manifest Destiny are now picking up steam after a slow start and are trying to show everyone that they're the biggest fish in this pond. Each clan has only three or four games left to finish and all are underway. AQOH are currently 3-4 down to HH, Dynasty are losing 2-3 to the Ultimates and Manifest Destiny could still gate crash the party as their last two games are against AQOH and DYN. Boy oh boy, this one will go down to the wire.

Round of 16KORT vs TFFS: 43-17KORT Wins!KORT is the first clan to advance into the Round of 8 where they will face either OTP or OSA to get into the quarter finals! Only one game remains, Game 13038084 1st Nations of the Americas which will go to KORT. Final score to be 44-17.Final Result: KORT AdvancesIcePack Predicted: KORT Advances

OSA vs OTP: 31-27OSA Wins!It's official! OSA has taken the match and will face KORT in the Round of 8! They'll need to be One Step Ahead in order to out maneuver the cows. Several games here are left:Game 13169079 Conquer Rome - Leaning OTPGame 13168845 Conquer Rome - Leaning OTPGame 13168849 Brazil - Neutral

As you can see, this one could be coming down to the final game, unfortunately for OTP it went 1 game to far for OSA.

Final Result: OSA AdvancesIcePack Predicted: OTP Advances

TSM vs MYTH: 36-20TSM Wins!TSM will advance here to face IA or MM, with IA being favored. TSM will face a difficult battle ahead, and will need to stop monkeying around now that they've secured the MYTH war. Final Result: TSM AdvancesIcePack Predicted: TSM Advances

IA vs MM: 10-8 IcePack Predicts: IA AdvancesIA has a slight lead going into their second set vs MM. Both seem to be doing well at home, and I predict this will end closer then most imagine. Though, in the end I predict IA will walk away with the win having assassinated MM's chances of getting into the Round of 8.

TOFU vs DYN: 39-14 IcePack Predicts: TOFU AdvancesTOFU has secured their victory and thus enter the Round of 8. TOFU will face either RA or ATL next round, which are locked in heated battle to get the chance to face TOFU. Final Result: TOFU AdvancesIcePack Predicted: TOFU Advancing

RA vs ATL: 14-18 IcePack Predicts: ATL AdvancesWhile RA has been climbing in the ranks lately and performing strong, ATL brings a lot of experience to the table as the "new clan smell" slowly wears off their new home. This war has been fun to watch, and they're still very close and either of them can take it at this point. They are currently also locked in a battle for the NewComers Cup, in which is very close! 20-20 currently, though it looks like ATL will take the last game. I expect them to also win the match for CC4 as well, though RA is certainly putting up a fight.

AFOS vs ACE: 7-6 IcePack Predicts: ACE AdvancesThis will be an excellent war and hard fought on both sides. On one hand, we have AFOS who were CC3 finalists, but recently had a shake up in members. And on the other, ACE, which is the product of EMP and AOC merger are still gaining experience as a new unified unit. While AFOS were CC3 finalists, I believe ACE will advance in CC4.

ID vs LOW: 20-39LOW Wins!Legends of War have overtaken the Imperial Dragoons! Both clans did very well in Round of 32, but LOW will have the opportunity to advance into the Round of 8 and play against the winner of AFOS/ACE match up. LOW continues its hot streak lately, but will have a short cool down as AFOS and ACE has yet to be decided. Will the extra time throw them off beat, or will the rest be helpful and keep them at the top of their game? Only time will tell.Final Result: LOW AdvancesIcePack Predicted: LOW Advancing

Hello friends, and welcome to your favourite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments, and other stuff in the Tournament scene! In this issue we bring you the answers and results of last issue's "Meet the Tournament..." Trivia Contest.

On top of that, we deliver our usual dose of tournament goodness - mcshanester29 brings us another MTTW interview with danryan; DaveH imparts more Tournament Tips and gives us the latest news in the TPA Wrap; and anamainiacks points us toward some tournaments in Join This? Or Not!

Last issue, the Tournament Team ran the "Meet the Tournament..."[/i] Trivia Contest to celebrate the 50th player to be interviewed in the "MTT..." series. What's more, through the week, Dukasaur kindly threw in an extra prize to increase the stakes of the competition! So now it's time to announce the winners of the various prizes.

I'd like to add a big thank you to everyone who participated and sent in their contest entry, and we hope to bring you more contests in future!

And without further ado, I present to you the questions and answers to the "Meet the Tournament..." Trivia.

THAT’S WHAT SHE SAIDFor the following questions, identify which player gave this response.

QUESTION 1 wrote:I never really played football, not physical enough. But I've played rugby at town level for a few years, and cricket at village level for two villages.ANS: heatz - Issue 71. (Q: Have you played football yourself?)

QUESTION 2 wrote:It used to be an extremely rare event when an organizer won their own tournament, but now it happens extremely frequently because of the repetition in tournaments and organizers optimizing their tournaments to help themselves.ANS: Night Strike - Issue 73. (Q: You were around the tournament world long before you became Commissioner. Give me some insight into how CC tournaments evolved, please, and what were some of your early experiences.)

QUESTION 3 wrote:When I do join tourneys, I look for tourneys with a well-presented intro by the TO. It gives me confidence that the organizer takes their tourney seriously and will be diligent in running it smoothly which is a far more important factor than the maps/settings when it comes to my enjoyment of tourneys.ANS: MudPuppy - Issue 66. (Q: How often do you join tournaments, and are there specific tourneys you look for?)

QUESTION 4 wrote:I like the tourney atmosphere. It has its weaknesses, no doubt, but as a community run organization, I think it works quite well.ANS: Butters1919 - Issue 68. (Q: What do you think of the whole tournament atmosphere?)

QUESTION 5 wrote:Well I don't think there was any running around outside. I'm from Canada ya know, igloos and such?ANS: IanG7 - Issue 96. (Q: When you finally won, did you celebrate? Run outside and tell the neighbours?)

YOU TALKIN’ TO ME?For the following questions, identify which player the interviewer was talking to / talking about.

QUESTION 6 wrote:Yeah winning a tournament cup in your third month on CC is pretty impressive. I've talked to people who waited two or three years for their first win.ANS: Dukasaur to azak848 - Issue 49.

QUESTION 7 wrote:Recently this player became a member of a very elite club, matched so far by only one other CC tournament player, HighlanderAttack.ANS: Fuzzy316 of shoop76 - Issue 64.

QUESTION 8 wrote:The first time I ever noticed you in the tournament forums, you were having a fairly public spat with the TDs about not letting you run a large-team tournament.ANS: Dukasaur to IcePack - Issue 74.

Question 11: Of the 50 players interviewed, how many were interviewed by Dukasaur?ANS: 30.Players who merely counted the number of times Dukasaur's name appeared as an interviewer might have counted BluU twice (MTTW and MTTO), resulting in an incorrect answer of 31 players.

Question 12: Which of our interviewers has done the least number of interviews?ANS: woopintroysbutt.He only did 1 interview - Meet the Tournament Winner: theRev1957 in Issue 78.

Question 13: Which CC Dispatch Issue(s) had the most players interviewed?ANS: Issues #41 and #102.Each of these issues had 4 players interviewed.

Question 14: Which of the interviewees do/does not have a Tournament Achievement Medal?ANS: ChrisBeerens.Though he is a MTTW interviewee for winning the Official 2011 CC Speed World Cup, he received a General Achievement Medal instead of a Tournament Achievement Medal for his win - like all other winners of Official Tournaments.

Question 15: Which MTTO Interviewee has hosted the least number of Tournaments?ANS: IcePack.He has hosted a total of 11 Tournaments so far.

1. So does your username have to do with your real name or did you randomly select two names to put them together? Is there something you would like to tell us about yourself?

Maybe. It also has to do with a freeway in Chicago that lots of people know and love.

2. With 63 wins under your belt do you still have the hunger to win more tournaments?

Always. I don't worry as much about winning as about enjoying them though.

3. What was your favorite tournament that you won?

5 Elements: Shuffle, by Kinnison, was really fun. There was a quads tournament called All Across Europe, where my team faced a quads team from the Bulletproof Bandits which may have been the toughest 7 quads games I've played in. One of my teammates was the incomparable Master Fenrir. It's tough to pick one.

4. What are your favorite maps/settings to play in a tournament?

Maps: I have a soft spot for Operation Drug War. I really like escalating, chained settings.

5. Which tournament has been your favorite to play in even if you didn't win it?

Without a doubt, the Map Blaster series. Insane game load, great competition. Lisbon101 and colson were probably the toughest competition I faced in those type of games.

6. Do you like playing in team or solo tournaments better?

Team games, with good teammates, are pretty hard to top.

7. What improvement would you like to see in the tournament world?

I'm not involved enough to give an opinion.

8. You also have an impressive 42 tournaments that you organized, How did you get started organizing tournaments?

Lindax inspired me. That guy is amazing, very organized and dedicated.

9. Did the first tournament that you organized go smoothly? Which tourney was your first?

It went smoothly because I was very familiar with the process. Unloved Maps - Drug War was my first. No one plays that map which is a shame. It's really very clever.

10. What advice do you have for someone just starting to organize tournaments?

Keep a spreadsheet, it is much easier than trying to organize in the thread. Google docs is very easy to use and free.

11. Anything else that you would like to add?

Tournaments (and clans) are what kept me interested in Conquer Club. Tournament directors are an under-appreciated bunch. I did enjoy my time as a TD, but it was really because Lindax was a great mentor - he put in serious work as a TD.

Thanks for letting me interview you and also for all the work you have done as a TD and TO!!

One requirement in an abandoned tournament I picked up Sonic Goes Back To School was that unique kills were specified as one requirement for a medal. This gives the added problem of working out the number of terminations by each player and also subtracting any duplicate terminations.To summarise; the number of terminations and points allocated to the order of terminations must be determined as well as the number of unique terminations. To get this information I have already written code to extract the necessary data. I use the "Terminator Points Summary" information. For instance:

2013-07-20 01:46:09 - freyme eliminated Nicho from the game in round - 12013-07-20 22:21:37 - Ishihara eliminated mcshanester29 from the game in round - 12013-07-21 17:32:28 - dowian2 eliminated freyme from the game in round - 12013-07-21 17:50:03 - dowian2 eliminated mviola from the game in round - 12013-07-21 23:14:13 - Ishihara eliminated dowian2 from the game in round - 1

From this we can pick out the word before "eliminated" and the one after it to give the two players:

The first column are those players who have eliminated another (i.e. 1 termination each) and also points can be allocated according to the tournament instructions. In the case of "Sonic" they are 1 point for each termination plus points for the last player standing such that the total of points distributed is 13. For instance with 6 players the points are 1, 1, 1, 1, 9; for 5 players 1, 1, 1, 10 and for 4 players 1, 1, 11.In addition there are points allocated to the order of terminations and for Sonmic they are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for 6 players and 2, 3, 4, 5 for 5 players etc.

Thus, when I summarise several games I have three lists; Points, Terminations and a list of concatenated eliminations. This list can be sorted alphabetically and any duplicates are non-unique terminations. Therefore the number of unique terminations for each player are their total terminations minus any duplicate terminations. (These "tips" started off as ones that I used to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. Now, I am looking at other types of tournaments and scoring systems by all you innovative TO's out there. So, if you have a unique scoring system that you would like me to have a go at automating, please let me know and I'll be pleased to try and assist. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to of course. Please note that I have just moved to Excel 2010, so there may be variations if you have other versions of Excel)

The tournament leaders are now: Swifte (5,760), dowian2 (4,635), leehar (3,647), barterer2002 (3,437) and arno30 (3,349). Arno30 is inching up the tables after his recent tournament achievements, but is Swifte's lead too great for any of his pursuers? Just "A History of Europe", "CC Golf Match Play Season 2", "MC's Master's of 6", "MC's World Terminators" and "TheMissionary's Quads Showdown" tournaments are yet to be completed.

TPA 2: Standings All spreadsheets are now up-to-date. (Remember to scroll to the right see the TPA2 totals after deducting all of the lowest scores over the Standard and Premier allowances.)

And now for our regular look at a selection of the tournaments in sign-ups! In this issue we look at some tournaments against bots, and some tournaments in teams.

Official Bot Invasion Tournaments by greenoaks - Freemium Friendly!In line with CC's latest grand additions to the site, the Entertainment Team is hosting not 1, but a whopping 4 Official Tournaments to celebrate CC's newest robot friends! There are 2 types of tournaments for each of the 2 bots the site currently has. In the Unconquered tournaments, players will attempt to clock in the longest winning streak possible on any setting; while in the Bot was I thinking tournaments, players attempt to be the quickest to defeat the bot on all of the 72 maps currently available to the bots.

As these tournaments will be based on games created by yourself and played against bots, they can be completed at your own pace, completely removing all the waiting that usually comes with tournaments! And if the convenience of that wasn't already attractive enough, each of the 4 tournaments comes with a 6-Month Premium Prize for the winner!

Epic Team Battles - Napoleonic by Armandolas - Freemium Friendly!This tournament retraces some of the battles of Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolution, and pits teams against each other in a variety of team games across Doubles, Triples and Quads settings. Split into 4 groups of 4, teams will play every other team in their group in a round robin best of 5 matchup, with the winners of each group advancing to the finals and going through the same process to find the champion of the tournament. If you're up for walking in the footsteps of the great conquerer, then grab a few friends and jump right in!

GDI's vs Clan's - HAR - 2v2 by Seamus76 - Freemium Friendly!This tournament brings the clan world right into the tournament world, and pits teams from some of CC's clans against players who refuse to be part of any (G-d Damn Independents, as Seamus76 calls them). Definitely a novel concept which is bound to yield some interesting results, the tournament is a best of 3 bracket tournament, with each round's maps being decided based on a Home-Away-Random combination. Care to be part of the fight?

It's Issue 104, which was also a great year for maps, and if you didn't know 104 is also the number of Corinthian columns in the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the largest temple ever built in Greece. So there you go.

Ethiopia by cairnswk as mentioned last issue is now in BETA. Number 36 for Conquer Club's Greatest Cartographer has been a lot of fun so far, as I'm sure you would all agree.

Whilst the above is for the top nine maps, it contains all maps playable, including all of the seasonal ones. Click on any of the top tags and you can switch views. So if you want to know how many games the top ten maps have had played on them, you can. You can easily find the largest or smallest maps based on territories, and determine whether or not a map would be recommended for a new recruit to play.

This is not a perfect solution to some arguments about the map gallery but it is a huge step in the right direction. Now all we can do is hope the site listens to the suggestions given to improve it and we get what we all deserve. A huge database dealing with the maps we have.

Map Name: ZigguratMapmaker(s): jonofperuNumber of Territories: 65 (16 starting spots)What Makes This Map Worthy of Being Made: Battle for HIGH GROUND! Auto-deploy bonuses which increase as players conquer higher ground; higher levels bombard all lower levels; starting spots with auto-deploy that one-way attack the pyramid and bombard the first 2 levels on their side. The summit E01 is the only territory that can kill starting spots.

It has surely been a long time since the foundry got a look in from the admins. Not since the dark days of the summer of 2011 have we had any word from the boys in red. So here is a list of features that are right now in the suggestions forum dealing with maps.

This suggestion is for unique wins whilst maps are in Beta play. A great suggestion that has now been around for 15 months and is in submitted. Who really does not want another medal to add to there lot.

This suggestion is for the map board. Never heard of it, well not a lot of people have. You can find it here. It is tucked away behind the game tab at the top and all the way to the right. Amazing how something that celebrates maps is so far removed from the site.

That is 5 suggestions. 2 are already submitted but the 3 xml ones have not been. Time to throw some support into suggestions as our new leader bigwham, likes to hang around suggestions. Lets hope he sees some of these and thinks they are good enough to add to any future updates he has planned.

And as Alex Berger said, "Maps are the foundation on which adventure is built." Enjoy.

safariguy5 wrote:Hello again freestyle readers. I've got a new Scum Insider, we have a trivia challenge with prizes, Dukasaur discusses his SoC game vs Stubbs, and qwert gives an interview in genuine "qwenglish".

Hey can anyone tell me is this a new dispatch and is it trivia active, or this was really posted Jul 17 like it says.....

safariguy5 wrote:Hello again freestyle readers. I've got a new Scum Insider, we have a trivia challenge with prizes, Dukasaur discusses his SoC game vs Stubbs, and qwert gives an interview in genuine "qwenglish".

Hey can anyone tell me is this a new dispatch and is it trivia active, or this was really posted Jul 17 like it says.....

this is the newest issue, but we use a template that was made on Jul 17 so when we copy it here, it appears to be from July 17.

safariguy5 wrote:Hello again freestyle readers. I've got a new Scum Insider, we have a trivia challenge with prizes, Dukasaur discusses his SoC game vs Stubbs, and qwert gives an interview in genuine "qwenglish".

Hey can anyone tell me is this a new dispatch and is it trivia active, or this was really posted Jul 17 like it says.....

this is the newest issue, but we use a template that was made on Jul 17 so when we copy it here, it appears to be from July 17.

the trivia is live.

Yes.... the actual publication date is in the title: Issue 104, 02-10-13. (02-Oct-2013) Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a good way to get around the problem of the template date being preserved when we copy the completed newsletters out to the forum.

safariguy5 wrote:Hello again freestyle readers. I've got a new Scum Insider, we have a trivia challenge with prizes, Dukasaur discusses his SoC game vs Stubbs, and qwert gives an interview in genuine "qwenglish".

Hey can anyone tell me is this a new dispatch and is it trivia active, or this was really posted Jul 17 like it says.....

this is the newest issue, but we use a template that was made on Jul 17 so when we copy it here, it appears to be from July 17.

the trivia is live.

Yes.... the actual publication date is in the title: Issue 104, 02-10-13. (02-Oct-2013) Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a good way to get around the problem of the template date being preserved when we copy the completed newsletters out to the forum.

i use templates with my tournaments and don't have that problem. create a new thread in the Announcements and copy/paste into it.

Dukasaur wrote:Yes.... the actual publication date is in the title: Issue 104, 02-10-13. (02-Oct-2013) Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a good way to get around the problem of the template date being preserved when we copy the completed newsletters out to the forum.

i use templates with my tournaments and don't have that problem. create a new thread in the Announcements and copy/paste into it.

Then all five sections would come under my name and the editors of the sections would be robbed of credit for their sections. Also, I think it would reduce the impact of the section breaks if they all looked like they were written by me. To get the sections posted in the proper order and under their proper authorship would require everyone to be online simultaneously, which would be a logistical nightmare to arrange every two weeks.

I've thought of all that, of course. I've also thought about having the different section editors post in separate threads and only merging them out here, but the BB software is too inflexible. It won't let you re-arrange the order of posts in merged threads, so the sections would again be out of order, unless they were made in sequence, which again gets us back to a logistical nightmare of trying to get everybody to post in chronological sequence every two weeks.